For Adam and Charlee Ruben, adding a second youth-centric brand and becoming multi-unit franchisees was an opportunity they simply couldn’t pass up, even if it meant taking over three underperforming Premier Martial Arts locations and agreeing to open five new ones in their home state of Utah by 2028.
The deal comes as Premier Martial Arts and its parent company, Unleashed Brands, face two lawsuits filed by franchisees since Unleashed announced its acquisition of the youth-focused martial arts franchise in January 2022.
Last fall, a group of 54 franchisees filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against Premier Martial Arts, its parent company and CEO Michael Browning, among others. The suit claims violations of RICO, or the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, fraudulent inducement and breach of contract.
The Rubens said they weren’t deterred by the litigation.
“We were well aware of the lawsuits when we were talking with Unleashed Brands about acquiring the Premier Martial Arts locations and the territory here in Utah, and it didn’t change our minds at all,” said Adam Ruben about the deal they signed with Unleashed in April that includes the acquisition of Premier Martial Arts locations in Riverton, Pleasant Grove and Draper, Utah, and the opening five new locations in Oquirrh, Erda, Alpine, Springville and South Jordan, Utah, by 2028.
Snapology franchisees Adam and Charlee Ruben recently acquired three Premier Martial Arts locations and five others for development in Utah.
“We felt Unleashed was very being very transparent with us throughout the process and we were not at all concerned about the underlying mechanics of the lawsuit(s),” added Ruben, who said they expect to open their first new PMA location later this year.
Said Josh Wall, chief growth officer for Unleashed Brands about the pending lawsuits: “We’re disappointed in anything that can distract our team from helping our franchisees to drive profitability, and delivering the best experience for our customers.”
Josh Wall, chief growth officer for Unleashed Brands
Wall noted the Rubens were an easy choice to help build the Premier Martial Arts brand in Utah, citing their success in growing their lone Snapology location there while raising three children, including a 9-year-old daughter who’s enrolled in PMA classes. Snapology, which Unleashed bought in 2021, offers science, technology, engineering, arts and math programs to children.
“Adam and Charlee are what we consider the quintessential Unleased Brands franchisees. Hard workers. High integrity individuals. They’re family focused and strengthening their communities,” Wall said. “We are looking for more Ruben families out there that are looking to transition into business ownership and build wealth.”
The Rubens, who added Adam’s sister and brother-in-law, Rachel and Rich Poulsen, to their PMA ownership group, are used to overcoming business challenges. Shortly after opening their Snapology location in 2020, the pandemic forced the couple to temporarily shut down their Lehi, Utah business. The loss in revenue significantly cut into their profits, but they claim they still managed to break even their first year and grow their business to the point now that they are “a top Snapology performer” with nearly 800 students enrolled in 75 summer camp programs.
The Rubens are the first to admit it won’t be easy turning around three underperforming Premier Martial Arts locations and preparing to open five locations.
“We talked to Premier owners and they told us it’s going to be a lot of work, but we know what we’re getting into in and we’re fully prepared for it,” said Adam Ruben, noting they inherited seven employees at their three units, including someone he described as a “rock star” general manager to help oversee operations. “He’s basically a walking PMA handbook and we’ve been able to really rely heavily on him to help show us the ropes,” he said.
While he did not want to detail the mistakes made by the previous PMA owner, Ruben, a retired Marine who led the technology side of a local health insurance company before becoming a franchisee, said they are already implementing improvements in marketing and sales. “We’ve done a lot grassroots marketing as a result of developing great relationships and partnerships with the principals and leaders at schools in our communities already with our Snapology franchise, and that’s where we feel we have a distinct advantage,” he said.
Premier Martial Arts specializes in instructing children and adults, ages 4 and up, in the practice of martial arts.
“I think that was a big misconception of a lot of franchise owners is they think that when they buy the sailboat it comes with the wind. But that’s just not the case,” Ruben said about the challenges that come with buying a franchise. “The hardest part for us is educating people on what Snapology is and making them understand the benefits the program offers their children. It will be pretty much the same plan for our Premier locations, working with the same demographics: parents who want to provide their children the discipline and structure they may be lacking.”
Unleashed Brands, meanwhile, continues its aggressive growth plans. It has approximately 272 Premier Martial Arts locations, the largest of its brands in units, in the United States with another 382 locations in development, according to Wall. Unleashed’s next largest brand in terms of unit size, according to Wall, is The Little Gym, with 186 open locations and 58 in development.
Urban Air Adventure Park has 177 locations open with another 170 in development. The franchise group’s other youth enrichment brands are Snapology (91 locations, 27 in development) and XP League (40 open, five in development). Class 101, a college application and planning service, has 50 locations open and five in development.
The multi-unit deal signed by the Rubens signals the embattled umbrella firm is back to selling PMA franchises after franchisees were told earlier this year that Unleashed was pausing sales of that concept. Recently purchased by Seidler Equity Partners, Unleashed named Scott Thompson president of Premier Martial Arts in April.
The cost to open a new Premier Martial Arts franchise ranges from $183,650 to $421,800. Average gross sales in 2021 were $315,850, according to the brand’s franchise disclosure document.
Premier Martial Arts was founded in 2004 and acquired by Unleashed Brands in 2022.